LET me tell you about Mesa. It is no hidden secret, as anyone who has tried to get a seat in the place before Covid would attest to.

Nowadays, it is the crowds who gather on Saturday and Sunday mornings that give the game away.

Glasgow Times:

Full disclosure: I am so regular a customer at Mesa, that the staff remember my name without me having to tell them when I place an order. So I am somewhat biased.

But when you have a place this good on your doorstep, why ask questions?

Glasgow Times:

Sure, the prices border on being a bit steep but they are in line with your standard hipster food joint. What isn’t in keeping with the deluge of new trendy eateries which are popping up across the city, is that the people in the kitchen really know flavours.

Glasgow Times:

Take the porchetta special sandwich I ordered on Tuesday. A sharp kale chimichurri cut through thick slabs of succulent pork, while rocket lettuce and pecorino cheese added another layer of flavour. It is, not to put too fine a point on it, divine. 

While small portions is a tired complaint about trendy food, Mesa seems very keen to avoid such mudslinging by providing you with a sandwich the size of an oven glove.

I ordered just after finishing up work after a 6am start and I would have eaten whole anything that hung around long enough.

This monster piece satiated me for hours afterwards, aided a little by a slice of coconut and raspberry cake with a coffee for dessert.

Mesa does a rare thing by being a trendy little upstart cafe in a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood but justifying its existence.

It is not trying to be cool for the sake of it. The cafe is doing food that borders on the genuinely gourmet, in a relaxed and unpretentious environment.

And in better times, it was a place you could easily while away a few hours without feeling rushed despite the steady stream of customers coming through the door.

Now you have to wait on a little bit of pavement outside while the kitchen prepares your order.

But when the food is this good, it really is worth the wait, in whichever weather you find yourself.

Rating: 5/5

Price: £11.30 (sandwich, cake and can of San Pellegrino)

Mesa, 567 Duke St, Glasgow G31 1PY